Mountain Biking: Rubber side down- Exploration Is Cool.So, last week I left the house like this: The grand plan was to meet Josh, drive the fat-tire bikes up to the Peak to Peak, ride down on singletrack/dirt roads, then ride the skinny tire bikes back up for the car. You know, a little something-different adventure. We got off to a rocky start, […]
- Sometimes Gadgets MatterIt’s not often that I credit an improvement in my riding to equipment. In fact, I’m willing to bet that a lot of issues with most folks are operator error rather than the need for some expensive toy. But this time, I’ve got a few exceptions. Sunglasses, for me, are a tough purchase. Not only […]
- Exploration Is Cool.
- Edgy Veggie
Where would you put Boulder bike-share stations?
Considering that the city is “finalizing” a contract for a Boulder bike-sharing program akin to Denver’s B-Cycle, it’s time to start nerding out with maps, which is my favorite part of any day.
So I’m asking you folks, here and on Twitter and Facebook, where would you put Boulder bike-share stations?
It’s pretty clear that there would be a station or two on Pearl, right? Let’s assume you’d have one on the east end, the west end and, for the heck of it, let’s say one on 13th.
Where else? Let me hear you.
Check out the B-Cycle map (PDF) for inspiration.
A partial map of B-Cycle stations in Denver.
Boulder bike-sharing program in the works
Edwin Chan, 50, of Hong Kong, rides a B-cycle he rented in downtown Denver. | Jeremy Papasso/ Camera
I haven’t personally tried B-Cycle down in Denver, but the Earth Day launch of the bike-sharing program had a lot of people in Boulder asking questions like, “Why did Denver beat Boulder to a bike-sharing program?” and “Does Boulder need a bike-sharing program?”
It looks like Boulder bike-sharing might reignite in a few months:
Martha Roskowski, the program manager for GO Boulder, the city’s alternative transportation program, said the city is working with B-cycle and Boulder Bike Sharing to finalize a contract. The bikes, she said, could be available by early spring.
“We are really excited,” she said of the prospect of bringing bike-sharing back to Boulder. “It’s not a done deal until the contract is finalized, but at this point, I am optimistic.”
In the 1990s, the city supported the “green bikes” program, which relied on donations and volunteers to maintain free bikes that were shared throughout the city.
And then there are sentiments like this one:
“I wouldn’t use it, since I already have a bike,” said Joshua Morriston.
Living wall: CU receives grant to develop amazing, energy-efficient walls
Air conditioners | photo by flickr user Todd Morris
You’ve heard “my body is a temple,” but how about “my house is a body?”
The wall, as the CU team of engineers and architects proposes, would use channels of advanced polymers to naturally heat or cool homes similar to how the human body regulates its temperature.
“What we are envisioning is actually having a wall that has a vascular network inside,” said Kurt Maute, an associate professor with CU’s aerospace engineering sciences department.
The team of engineers assigned think that the living wall could have commercial applications in 20 years.
Colorado coal miners steamed over Clean Air-Clean Jobs
Not everybody is happy about to Colorado Clean Air-Clean Jobs Act, which “requires Xcel to cut nitrogen oxide emissions by up to 80 percent from several Front Range coal plants by the end of 2017, most likely sooner.”
GRAND JUNCTION — Legislation aimed at cleaning up Denvers air and turning Colorado into a model state for clean energy and jobs is feared as a job killer for the Western Slope’s coal country.
Sign-waving coal miners stole the show from the Colorado Public Utilities Commission on Monday night as they rallied outside the old Mesa County Courthouse. They gathered before the commissions first hearing on Xcel Energys plan to close or retrofit some of its Front Range coal-fired plants. The changes are being made to comply with the Colorado Clean Air-Clean Jobs Act.
Of course, the Western Slope natural gas folks are excited about it.
Read more: Coal miners rally in Grand Junction against clean-energy plans – The Denver Post.
Green buildings blocking cell phone signals
CU officials are working with cellular providers to better cover the campus | Jeremy Papasso
LEED-certified green buildings are great for the environment, but as it turns out, they maybe not great for your cell signal.
At the University of Colorado, where the number of bars on your cell phone goes up and down as you walk across campus, things are particularly grim in the newly constructed LEED buildings.
For most CU students, spotty cell phone reception has become the norm on campus and has gotten worse with the construction of new environmentally friendly buildings. University officials say they’re hard at work on ways to improve cell phone service on campus.
A recent analysis of signal strength found that there are weak spots across campus, particularly in newly constructed buildings that meet LEED environmental standards, said Greg Stauffer, communications manager for CU’s Information Technology Services.
“The problems in LEED buildings had to do with improved insulation and UV filtering windows affecting signal strength,” Stauffer said. “It was an unexpected effect of the new construction, but we’re working on addressing the issue as quickly as possible.”
Read more about CU’s cell signals at ColoradoDaily.com.
Got a blue car? Don’t drive on Mondays.
The city of Boulder is trying hard to get people to bike more, to walk more or to take the bus. They encourage RTD Eco Passes, they sponsor Bike to Work Day… but their latest campaign takes the cake for wacky. (Or cool, depending on your perspective.)
The “Driven to Drive Less” campaign — which will launch in a few weeks — will try to convince people to choose one day a week to not drive their cars based on color. Blue cars should stay at home Mondays. Silver cars should take a break Tuesdays. Red on Wednesdays… you get the idea.
The city wants to get thousands of Boulderites to participate. Would you give it a try?
Read more about the campaign at DailyCamera.com.
People frolic outside on Boulder open space
Here’s a video of, well, people frolicking on open space near Boulder. It’s all part of this crazy thing known as the Boulder International Fringe Festival. Check it out for yourself: www.boulderfringe.com.
Rogue composters no more
There's good news for Boulder residents without curbside compost service. Photo Credit: Orin Zebest.
I’ve gone so far as to sweet-talk a Whole Foods employee into letting me put a giant bag of frozen vegetable peels in their compost bin, even though it’s officially against their policy. A friend of mine took her scraps to a local bar out of desperation.
If you’ve ever stared wistfully at a neighbor’s curbside compost bin, perhaps even boldly throwing your own scraps inside, you’re not alone:
“Multi-family units are the holy grail, the ultimate challenge for recyclables and compostables,” says Dan Matsch, manager of the compost department at the nonprofit recycler Eco-Cycle. “You have a whole bunch of diverse people living in the same building. You have limited capacity.”
Happily, Boulder residents who live in multi-unit buildings without curbside service don’t have to continue being rogue composters. Matsch offers up painless, above-board ways to compost, and Shireen Miller, the city’s residential sustainability expert, describes how to get management on board with the bin: Composting without curbside.
After writing this, I talked to a couple of my neighbors and we came up with an informal plan to request service. With any luck, we’ll all be a legitimate composters soon.
Dear Sierra Club, why are you so fickle?
Sierra Club released its Cool Schools on Monday.
Yesterday, the Sierra Club released its “cool schools” ranking of the most eco-awesome colleges and universities in the country. Last year the University of Colorado at Boulder ranked #1. This year, #13.
CU wasn’t the only one on a roller coaster ride. According to a blog on the Chronicle of Higher Eductaion’s website:
Last year, the University of Colorado at Boulder ranked No. 1, while Green Mountain College was 35th. This year, CU is at 13th and Green Mountain is tops.
Dickinson College went from 19th in 2009 to No. 2, and Stanford University zoomed up from 26th to 5th. Yale University went from 14th to 26th, and Emory University fell 10 notches to 42nd.
You might assume from such fluctuations that sustainability programs went haywire in the past year. But little changed, it seems, other than Sierra‘s ranking methodology. Energy issues were given more weight in this year’s survey, Sierra editors say, but that answer probably won’t satisfy the longtime critics of these green ratings.
And the new emphasis on energy sources are what hurt CU. Dave Newport, director of CU’s Environmental Center, told the Camera that the university is at the whims of Xcel Energy, which still relies heavily on coal.
Read more about CU’s slip in Sierra’s green rankings at DailyCamera.com.
Goodbye Valmont? (Goodbye 44 pounds of mercury)
Protesters outside Valmont coal plant earlier this year.
After years of Xcel Energy arguing that there’s no conceivable way they would shut down the coal-burning generator at Valmont Station east of Boulder (in part because the boiler is one of the most efficient in the utility’s system), the company announced Friday, that actually they will shut the plant down by 2017.
For activists who have staged a number of protests at the plant over the last couple of years, the announcement was good news. (But better news, some said, would have been an announcement that the plant, which spews 44 pounds of mercury into the air every year, would close immediately.)
The three natural gas-fired generators a the plant will continue operating.
